1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods for making a monotype artwork, and more particularly to the use of acrylic paint and pigments in the making of a monotype artwork.
2. Description of the Prior Art
By definition, a fine art monotype is an image rendered by hand on a support surface (referred to as a plate) and then, traditionally, transferred to paper under pressure of the etching press. It is incapable of being editioned because no permanent pattern is established on the plate surface. A monoprint method includes a monoprint plate which contains important elements of etched, engraved or cut lines and textures that, along with hand application of painted imagery allow for subsequent printings to exhibit identical marks while retaining a one-of-a-kind identity.
Most monotype artists are familiar with the traditional materials and methods used in their making. Suffice to say that oilbase pigments remain wet long enough to allow ample time before printing is necessary and that waterbase pigments are preferably printed after they dry being easily reactivated by dampened paper under pressure. In both cases the material birth of the traditional monotype depends on the pressure of the etching press, a Japanese baren, squeegee, spoon or some such device in order to wed pigments with paper. In the printing process the exposed top layer of the image is forever buried within the paper fibers while, simultaneously, the heretofore unseen bottom layer adhering to the plate is released disclosing the face of the plate mirrored within the content of the image.
In the use of acrylic pigments, media and gels in a monotype process, time becomes a significant issue due to a characteristic rapid rate of drying and polymerization. The usual approach to the making of acrylic monotypes, especially when formal demands require some degree of complexity, is to print segments of the composition, one at a time, before they dry. And while this strategy of joining and layering of parts does not preclude rich and unique pictorial solutions it does explain why the medium is not more favored by monotypists. Additionally, while oilbase and waterbase pigments allow for the printing of ghost images, acrylics, due to their rapid rate of drying, do not easily give up their ghosts. However, given the limitations, the very troubling drying characteristic constraining acrylic""s easy use is transformed in this invention to an advantage simply by eliminating pressure as the transfer device and accepting acrylic""s basic physical nature as a casting medium.
Most artists working with acrylics have, at one time or another, observed the ease with which the dried pigments peel from slick, non-absorbent surfaces such as glass or china plates used as palettes. What has not been associated with this phenomenon (acrylic""s inherent peelability"" and flexibility) is, in essence, a valuable clue pointing to a radical direction in the making of monotypes. That is, when acrylic is painted on a glass plate and then allowed to thoroughly dry it may be easily lifted off revealing its underside contact imagery. In other words, an acrylic monotype is made by working with the intrinsic physicality of the medium. This approach opens up a number of new possibilities in the way drawn, painted and collaged monotypes and assemblages can be made. In essence, what is proposed here is to make use of the way acrylic is transformed in its drying process becoming as it does a continuous polymerized, flexible and malleable film. Removal of such a paint film from a plate surface is for all practical purposes, no different than the lifting of a cast from a mold. And, in addition to acrylic""s natural casting attributes, it also acts as a bonding agent allowing for the inclusion of other materials and the use of other media.
In the proposed method acrylic paints, that may be modified by retardants, flow release liquid, acrylic media and gels, may be used separately or in combination with most other media such as oilbase and waterbase paints and inks, crayons, oil paint, sticks and markers in the creating of monotypes and monoprints.
The present invention involves the painting and/or drawing directly on a surface of a matrix or plate, such as glass, china, polyethelene or zinc plates, with acrylics and then allowing the paint to dry completely before removing the image intact, as opposed to the traditional prior art method of printing the quick drying pigments in sections in layered sequence while the pigments are still wet. In the basic process an acrylic image is created on the matrix and allowed to dry. A layer of a backing material adhesive, such as an acrylic gel, is next applied and a backing material (such as paper or cloth) is placed upon the gel, and the wet gel is then allowed to dry. The dry artwork is then removed from the matrix. In various augmented embodiments, layers of applied acrylic pigments can be used as stopouts as well as compositional elements in that an applied layer not covering the whole the entire matrix surface when dry allows those vacant matrix areas to be painted with different color layers without disturbing the first layer. Also, any layer of acrylic pigment when dry can be worked with tools (stylus, fingernail, etc.) to remove dried pigment so that other layers of different color pigment may be applied in the exposed matrix areas.
Further, sections of any image can be removed by hand so that they may be used as collage elements with the same image, a different image or to be stored for later use. These sections may be selectively pressed into place against the plate surface so that they appear as continuous visual elements in the context of the whole image. The invention allows the inclusion within a single image of other media (wet or dry), such as watercolor, waterbase crayons and pencils, felt pens, waterbase inks, water mixable oil paints, oil pastels and oil paint sticks because of the bonding abilities of acrylics. Additionally, all types of acrylic can be applied including Rhoplex, latex and latex enamel house paints and sprays. This invention includes the removal by hand of the resulting polymerized acrylic film from the matrix surface with or, if thick enough, without reinforcement of either paper or cloth backing material.
It is an advantage of the present invention that acrylic paints are utilized in the monotype artwork process.
It is another advantage of the present invention that a monotype artwork is produced that does not require the utilization of a press.
It is a further advantage of the present invention that a variety of media and elements can be incorporated within the acrylic paint monotype.
It is yet another advantage of the present invention that collage and intaglio prints can be made using the acrylic paint process.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will no doubt become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description which makes reference to the several figures of the drawings.